THE BREXIT divorce settlement is “not very much money” for the European Union and the payment is purely out of principle, the former Polish Foreign Affairs Minister claimed.

Radek Sikorski, the former Polish Minister who served in Donald Tusk’s cabinet, has claimed that the Brexit divorce bill is not a lot of money to the EU’s huge economy.

The UK has vowed to go “point by point” through the European Union’s demands in the Brexit divorce settlement, which is one of the main issues that must be resolved during the first phase of negotiations.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Sikorski said that it was important to reach an agreement, but the figures disputed were “not very much” money.

He said: “Britain ensured that the budget was less than a trillion euros so Britain was co-responsible for that budget and therefore Britain has some responsibility for effecting the payments, including payments to Britain from that budget.

GETTY•EXPRESS

Brexit news: Radek Sikorski claimed the Brexit settlement was not a lot of money to the EU

“It is only by analysing project by project and area of expenditure by area of expenditure that you can arrive at a responsible figure.

“I would personally be pleased if we in the spirit of an amicable divorce if we put the decision to arbitration.

“For the European Union it is not very much money, I mean we are a €15 trillion economy, so whether it is €20billion, €40billion, is not actually that important.

“The important thing is to resolve those issues in a fair way and in a way that will mean that we will not fall out over the money.”